Africa PE market expecting May price hikes

23 April 2014 16:58[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Middle East polyethylene (PE) producers are yet to announce May prices targets for the African market but many participants expect a hike because of planned and unplanned supply shortages, sources confirmed on Wednesday.

According to one distributor, some producers have already increased prices.

“We could not get our full volumes from [one producer],” the source said.

“They’re running at 30% capacity. Prices are already up $30/tonne. [A second producer] has limited allocations of HDPE [high density PE] and LDPE [low density PE], [they are] only [filling] 50% of allocations this month and prices are up $20-25/tonne.”

The source added a third producer is experiencing problems with its ethylene cracker and does not have enough LDPE. Its prices are up by $20-30/tonne, the distributor said.

With many participants attending the Chinaplas event in Shanghai, which runs from 23-26 April, many producers were not available for comment.

Meanwhile, one producer said it too expects HDPE price hikes.

“Our expectation for Africa in May, in some countries we will increase [prices],” the source said.

The source added that prices could increase by $10-20/tonne in North Africa, and that prices in East and West Africa will also likely rise.

Producers are expected to announce May prices within the next few days.